


In your Eyes (I'd like to Stay)

by ralf



Series: pillow talk [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Loves Magnus Bane, Fluff, Insecure Alec Lightwood, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Magnus Bane Loves Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane's Cat Eyes, a slight hint at, but mostly it's about how, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 10:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18618349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ralf/pseuds/ralf
Summary: “You have beautiful eyes.”





	In your Eyes (I'd like to Stay)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from “Thinking of You” by Katy Perry. The song doesn't fit this ficlet _at all_ but that line is pretty, so.

Warm morning sun smoothes over them, bathing them in gold. Alec loves waking up like this.

It's the most settling feeling he's ever known, wholly embraced by calm and peace and Magnus. They're facing each other, both awake, both completely at ease, just looking at each other with no need to break the silence resting over them like a light cozy blanket.

He never wants to look away from Magnus. He's breathtaking, so soft and open and only his. He traces the shape of Magnus's brow, his nose and his cheeks, committing them to a memory he won't need because he's got the real thing right here, for him to keep and cherish.

He takes in Magnus's mouth, the tender curve of it that shapes into the tiniest smile under his contemplation. He feels an answering grin tugging on his lips.

He never thought it could be like this, this comfortable to just look at someone with no fear of being seen, of being caught. Just breathing him in as if nothing else matters.

It feels like nothing else _could_ ever matter, in the face of everything he never dared to dream about right in his grasp, right in his arms.

He feels like he could stay in this moment forever, trapped in Magnus's eyes. They're burning with intensity, though Alec can't imagine what he could possibly be seeing to warrant such ardor.

“You have beautiful eyes,” Magnus breaks the quiet around them. His voice is the slightest bit scratchy from sleep and it settles right around Alec's heart.

He smiles.

“I think if one of us should get his eyes complimented that'd be you,” he answers, wriggling a little closer on his pillow. Magnus is wearing his glamor but his dark eyes hold their own appeal, deep and like a pit filled with emotions Alec is all too happy to be drowning in.

“I mean it,” Magnus insists. “They're fascinating.”

At Alec's frown he elaborates. “From afar they look bright brown with maybe a hint of green. But when you look closer and the light hits them just right, a maroon circle appears around your pupil and the rest seems slate blue.” A tiny crunch forms in his brow. “Kind of like a Hydrangea,” he decides. He snaps his fingers and a small bloom manifests on his palm, with four small petals in a pale, washed out blue. Magnus hums in content and reaches out to thread the flower into Alec's hair.

Alec can feel his cheeks grow warm and he can't help but return Magnus's smile.

“But then you look closer still,” Magnus continues, “and you realize the blue isn't actually blue, it's more of an olive with flecks of dove gray.”

He slides towards Alec until their noses almost touch, and squints. “But you do have a blueish dapple on the left side of your left eye.”

Alec laughs. “You're making this up.” He's been living with his eyes his whole life and they're not half as interesting as Magnus makes them sound. The flattery still makes his heart flutter though.

Magnus sighs dramatically. “If only you could see what I see.”

Alec gives a shrug. “I like my view better.”

A smile plays on Magnus's lips. “Oh yeah?”

Alec leans in and breathes a kiss against Magnus's lips. “Yes.” He draws back a little to catch Magnus's gaze even if from this close he inevitably goes cross-eyed.

“You have the prettiest eyes I have ever seen,” he whispers.

“They're just brown,” Magnus answers but he smiles nonetheless.

Alec doesn't even dignify that with a verbal response, only tilts his head.

Magnus exhales slowly and between one blink and the next his glamor is gone.

Alec's breath gets caught in his throat. He'll never get used to this.

Where Magnus's brown eyes are soft, his true eyes cut through him like the sharpest knife. But even though they are the eyes of a predator they hold a certain warmth and hidden vulnerability that make Alec feel like they are more open and pure than Magnus's human eyes. They permit him to look straight into Magnus's soul.

It's so _intimate_ that Alec feels his own eyes grow wet, his heart pounding in his chest. His hand cups Magnus's cheek without conscious thought and his voice cracks when he speaks. “You are so beautiful.”

Looking at Magnus is like looking into the sun. It's overwhelming and blinding and yet Alec couldn't stop if his life depended on it.

His throat works around a swallow and even though he feels like all he can do is stare, he wants to try to put it into words for Magnus, so maybe one day he'll believe Alec when he says that he loves those eyes.

“They're mesmerizing. They shine like pieces of gold. And there's sprinkles of brown, too.” He frowns. “No, not brown.” It's lighter than brown. But it's not quite beige either. Alec racks his mind for where he's seen that particular shade before. “Whiskey?” he tries. That also doesn't fit right. “No. I think it's Scotch.”

“Now you're just listing liquors,” Magnus snorts, amusement glittering in his eyes like stars.

“I'm not,” Alec objects.

Magnus makes an unconvinced humming sound and slips his glamor back up. Before Alec can protest he lets it go again, alternating his real eyes and his brown ones between one blink and the next.

 _This is what whiplash must feel like_ , Alec thinks, dazed. Magnus's brown eyes gleam with mirth, his yellow eyes piercing in their happiness and Alec forgets to breathe. He forgets everything that's not Magnus.

If watching him before was like staring at the sun, this feels like drowning, wave after wave of Magnus's flickering glamor pulling him under, with no chance to escape his thrall.

“I love your eyes,” he says helplessly.

Magnus smiles, pausing his glamor roulette, cat eyes searing right into Alec. “Which ones?”

Alec gives a little headshake. “Both. The color or shape doesn't matter. I just..”

He scrambles for words but only finds simple ones. “I love _everything_ about you, Magnus. I _love you_.”

Magnus looks stunned. “Alexander.” It's all he says.

“I love you,” Alec repeats. He wishes he had prettier, better words for Magnus but this is all he has to offer.

And yet, the way Magnus pulls him into a deep, passionate kiss gives him hope that this is good enough.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Writing/Visual References (you have to zoom real hard to see anything but the resolution is high enough... I hope):  
> \- [Alec's eyes appearing brown/blue](https://66.media.tumblr.com/00f924f3a53b73f947752e551d1dafc4/tumblr_pp5gfnxx6p1xe6w18o1_500.png) ([source](https://daddariodaily.com/post/183816295802)) and [matching Hydrangea ](https://www.masterworksbasketware.com.au/image/ex-large/15489_classic-artificial-hydrangea-flower-slate-49cm.jpg) ([source](https://www.masterworksbasketware.com.au/buy/silk-flowers-artificial-plants~artificial-hydrangeas/classic-artificial-hydrangea-flower-slate-49cm))  
> \- [Alec's eye color](http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/39900000/Matthew-at-NYCC-matthew-daddario-39945391-1365-2048.jpg) ([source](http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/matthew-daddario/images/39945391/title/matthew-nycc-photo))  
> \- [The blueish spot](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzg4Nzc5ODQ2NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDU5OTE4MzI@._V1_.jpg) ([source](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4568989/))  
> \- [Magnus's brown eyes](https://ralfstrashcan.tumblr.com/post/184418680044/banebicon-youve-unlocked-something-in-me)  
> \- [Magnus's s2 cat eyes](https://66.media.tumblr.com/53eb7252536f73d7ecc06c388e7320e4/tumblr_inline_p6czgsFFkt1vzhk6q_1280.png) ([source post with all his cat eyes](https://ralfstrashcan.tumblr.com/post/172380304549/magnuss-cat-eyes-through-the-seasons-season-1))  
> I suffered through so much awkwardness while staring at the eyes of real life people for this, please validate my efforts XD


End file.
